Three years ago, James Rosewell (who co-founded the Movement for an Open Web [MOW]) called Google’s Privacy Sandbox “a plan worthy of a Bond villain”. In this column, James dives into the latest report by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which suggests that the entire concept behind Privacy Sandbox is open to question…and a complete rethink is now needed.
The latest report by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into the progress of Google’s Privacy Sandbox acknowledges that ‘further progress is needed by Google to resolve…competition concerns’ before the technology can be released and cookies removed.
Significantly, the report includes input from fellow regulator the ICO for the first time, broadening the scope of the investigation and raising numerous additional issues for Google. The report lists more than 79 ongoing areas of concern – more than double the number in the last report – from latency and the role of cloud providers through to governance and privacy.
The involvement of the ICO in this report for the first time is hugely significant and shows that the regulators are jointly turning up the heat on Google. The fact that this additional scrutiny has already led to the latest delays is evidence of Google’s inability to resolve these concerns quickly.
The ICO are essentially saying that Google have got their privacy assessments wrong. This is worrying for them as it brings the entire Sandbox project into question. It should also be of concern to anyone who’s managing data online. If Google aren’t compliant it probably means that many of the alternative digital ad solutions are in question too – if that’s the case then the entire infrastructure of digital advertising is in the balance.
More broadly, the involvement of the ICO has brought a series of new tensions into the debate. On the one hand the CMA are raising competition concerns about Sandbox and on the other the ICO are questioning whether the project is privacy compliant. In many areas these issues are in direct conflict. Google has an impossible challenge to thread this particular needle with their current designs. A complete rethink will be required.
One area where the project seems to be particularly in trouble is around governance. Various nods are made in the report to some form of future governance regime that will resolve some of the issues listed, but no details are forthcoming. We’re talking about a project that will disrupt the $1trn+ digital advertising industry and – perhaps eight months before it goes live – we are still completely in the dark about how its going to be run.
What’s most concerning is that the report remains mute on the foundational issue of this debate. Google are proposing to replace an open and interoperable technology with a platform that is built, owned, and operated by a monopolist. There is clearly something wrong in that proposal. The obvious answer is that Sandbox should be launched alongside existing solutions and be allowed to compete in an open market. If Sandbox is as great as Google claims then it will be adopted and everyone will be happy. If it fails, then it will be obvious that this was an ill-conceived and executed monopolistic landgrab that should never have got off the drawing board.
The bottom line on all of this is that its time for people to stand up and be heard. Too few have come forward with only 25 stakeholders contacting the CMA in Q1 2024. The CMA and the ICO can only make the right decisions if they’ve got the evidence they need from the market. It’s clear that the Sandbox is fatally flawed but the regulators will only be able to reach that conclusion if they’ve got the insight and support of market participants. Its vital that anyone with an interest in this area engages now – either on their own or through an organisation like MOW.
James Rosewell
Co-Founder, Movement for an Open Web
About: MOW was founded by businesses committed to preserving the World Wide Web’s founding principles and ensuring freedom of operation. They advocate for the protection of the Open Web by governments, media, and regulators, opposing control by large corporations. MOW calls for support in this critical cause, emphasizing that it impacts widespread future prosperity. MOW’s network includes over 21,000 advertisers and 6 million websites across 65 countries.
